No, we did it because it made sense for her origins and backstory in tying into some of the lore weâre taking from the original games.
Why do all your comments sound like conspiracy theory?
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Thatâs what the âSan Fancisconiteâ meant, as San Francisco is in the US. 
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Honestly, I think itâs a good thing they pretty much streamlined Kim Wuâs nationality and solidified it. I was never 100% sure what nationality she was supposed to be, 'cause in KI 2, she was pretty much everything but Korean from what I could tell.
The original Kim was, with all due respect to Kevin Bayliss (and the people who came up with the character bios) a really hot mess of well-intentioned but admittedly ignorant (for lack of a better word) Asian stereotypes, all distilled into one character; like classic!Thunder, though since it was very much the 90âs, I give Rare a pass on this one.
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I think that award goes to Jago, tibetan-ninja-katana wielding-monk-who-speaks-japanese
I wouldnât say the original KIâs were designed with ignorance or cultural insensitivity. Itâs simply that political correctness and respect for minorities werenât even a thing to be considered, and it was ok to design a character in the basis of stereotypes and âcool factorâ.
We have come a long way in cultural awareness. It was not too far in the past (year 2000) where a museum in my zone held a very famous black tribesmen stuffed in 1830 by two French taxidermists.
http://cloud2.todocoleccion.net/postales-etnicas/tc/2013/12/06/13/40382884.jpg
after years of legal battles, an African association bought the corpse and gave it proper burial. We have come a long way in the last 20 years.
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No conspiracy theory. Just thought it would be a smart business move.
Wait, my comments sound like conspiracy theories?
My thinking was in line with yours as far as the Korean nationality, but slightly different reasons. A person with the name Kim WuâŠobviously has a Chinese father, but could have a Korean mother. I make this assumption on the basis that Wu is not traditionally a Korean surname. My second point is the name KimâŠthat is a typical Korean family nameâŠas in or Daesung Kim (fictional name), not a given name. Imagine being named Kim Kim (silly). The first name Kim could have been given just because she was born in the US and it sounds good with the family name.
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Donât be coy. You know how the government works:
Force IG to market KI to the Chinese -> ? -> Profit.
The again, the Chinese are also the most numerous Asian ethnic group in North America. Me thinks thatâs more of a reason for MS to infuse some Chinese blood into Kim Wu.
âHey China! We got a character that is partially Chinese! That means you will buy our game now, right?!â
⊠Really?
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Yes. Youâd be surprised at what foreign companies are required to do in order to do business in China or to get on the good side of its finicky government.
Aside from conducting business, the communist party and the U.S. arenât exactly on good terms.
I doubt thatâs enought for the Chinese to buy their game though.
If they were already interested, then sure, but adding just a single character partially of the same culture just doesnât seem like something that would persuade an entire nation to buy the game.
The point I am making is that anything helps. Giving Kim Wu some Chinese blood is a minor change that can bolster the image Chinese gamers have of the game.
Are the Chinese really that naive? Is that what youâre saying? That giving an already established character some Chinese influence enough to persuade some Chinese people to buy the game?
Itâs like giving a character a gun and a spangled banner to persuade Americans to buy⊠erh⊠wait⊠now that you mention it, it does seem like enough to persuade some people. XD
You may be overestimating the Chinese government.
Jago being from Tibet was enough for them to ban the game.
So where exactly are people getting the Korean thing from? Wu is a strictly Chinese last name. I always thought she was 100% Chinese in KI Gold. I canât find anything pointing towards her being Korean except the name Kim, which is a Korean last name. But thatâs obviously irrelevant since itâs her first name.
I asked a Chinese person and they said Kim Wu name one was Korean and one was Chinese so it makes sense, the mix.
no one questions whether Mariah Carey or Prince or Halle Berry are Black or white,
Why canât we just LOVE KIM as she is
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Oh, I donât actually care about her ethnicity. I just donât care about Kim Wu as a character at all. She gets no love from me whatever her ethnicity is. XD
Whattttttt
I thought youâd be a Kim player.
Didnât you like Leona and Cammy
I like Cammy, yes. What does that have to do with Kim Wu?
So far, the characters I like to play in KI are Orchid and Sadira.